Zoe Florescu Potolea
| Zoe Florescu Potolea | |
|---|---|
 Florescu in 2026 | |
| Nationality |  Romanian American |
| Born | 23 December 2008 Bucharest, Romania |
Zoe Florescu Potolea (born 23 December 2008) is a Romanian and American racing driver who last competed in the F4 Spanish Championship for Tecnicar by Amtog.
Career
Karting (2016–2025)
Florescu Potolea had her first taste of karting in 2016, before making her competitive debut in mini karts two years later in the Romanian Karting Masters. After two years in mini karts with Real Racing, Florescu Potolea stepped up to junior karts with them in 2021, before joining Birel ART Racing for her second year in the category. At the end of 2022, Florescu Potolea won the FIA Girls on Track – Rising Stars junior shootout, earning her a seat at Tony Kart Racing Team for her step-up to senior karts in 2023, with support from the Ferrari Driver Academy. After her only season in the category and Tony Kart, Florescu Potolea moved up to KZ2 in 2024, primarily racing for Birel ART Racing for the next two seasons.
Formula 4 (2025–)
During her first year of senior karting in 2023, Florescu Potolea began testing Formula 4 machinery. Towards the end of 2025, Florescu Potolea participated in the F1 Academy rookie test at Navarra, setting the eighth fastest time in the morning and the tenth fastest time in the afternoon.
At the start of 2026, Florescu Potolea became part of the More than Equal project, as well as running a part-time campaign for Campos Racing in the Formula Winter Series, where she took a best result of 17th in race two at Valencia. However, her main campaign during the winter was with Tecnicar by Amtog in the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship, where she scored a best result of 13th in race two at Algarve. For the rest of the year, Florescu Potolea remained with Tecnicar to compete in the F4 Spanish Championship, in which she took a best result of 13th at Aragón and Jerez. During 2026, Florescu Potolea also joined Hitech to make a wildcard appearance at the Zandvoort round of F1 Academy with the support of Unilever brand Dirt Is Good, as well as a one-off outing in Italian F4 with Real Racing.
Karting record
Karting career summary
Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Formula Winter Series | Campos Racing | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39th |
| Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship | Tecnicar by Amtog | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28th | |
| F4 Spanish Championship | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27th | ||
| F1 Academy | Hitech | ||||||||
| Italian F4 Championship | Real Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 69th | |
| Sources: | |||||||||
Complete Formula Winter Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Campos Racing | EST 1 |
EST 2 |
EST 3 |
POR 1 Ret |
POR 2 22 |
POR 3 20 |
CRT 1 Ret |
CRT 2 17 |
CRT 3 21 |
ARA 1 |
ARA 2 |
ARA 3 |
CAT 1 |
CAT 2 |
CAT 3 |
39th | 0 |
Complete Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Tecnicar by Amtog | POR 1 17 |
POR SPR 27† |
POR 2 13 |
JAR 1 22 |
JAR SPR 28 |
JAR 2 Ret |
ARA 1 21 |
ARA SPR 23 |
ARA 2 19 |
28th | 0 |
Complete F4 Spanish Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Italian F4 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Real Racing | MIS1 1 |
MIS1 2 |
MIS1 3 |
MIS1 4 |
VLL 1 |
VLL 2 |
VLL 3 |
VLL 4 |
MNZ 1 |
MNZ 2 |
MNZ 3 |
MNZ 4 |
MUG1 1 |
MUG1 2 24 |
MUG1 3 29† |
MUG1 4 DNQ |
IMO 1 |
IMO 2 |
IMO 3 |
IMO 4 |
MIS2 1 |
MIS2 2 |
MIS2 3 |
MIS2 4 |
MUG2 1 |
MUG2 2 |
MUG2 3 |
MUG2 4 |
69th | 0 |
Complete F1 Academy results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of the points finishers)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Hitech | SHA 1 |
SHA 2 |
MTL 1 |
MTL 2 |
MTL 3 |
SIL 1 |
SIL 2 |
ZAN 1 11 |
ZAN 2 18 |
COA 1 |
COA 2 |
COA 3 |
LVG 1 |
LVG 2 |
* | * |
* Season still in progress.
Notes
- ↑ Florescu competed for KCS Racing in round 1 and for Birel ART Racing in rounds 2–5.
References
- ↑ "Zoe Florescu-Potolea: «No shortcuts, you must race with the best at every stage.»". vroomkart.com. 29 May 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ "The road to women in Formula 1: the rising stars of motorsport". femalesinmotorsport.com. 18 December 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ "Etapa IKM de la Prejmer, un preview pentru 2022". kartingmasters.com (in Romanian). 11 August 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ "Successful start for Birel ART in 2022". tkart.it. 4 February 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ "KartQueen vine din România! Zoe Florescu Potolea vrea să cucerească lumea kartingului". eurosport.ro (in Romanian). 8 March 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ "Zoe Florescu Potolea wins Girls On Track Junior selections". racers-behindthehelmet.com. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ "Tony Kart wins at the European Champ in Cremona". kartxpress.com. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ "Piccini takes KZ2 pole position at Val Vibrata". kartcom.com. 30 August 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ "WSK Super Master at Viterbo - Birelart on top". tkart.it. 24 March 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ "Zoe Florescu Potolea răstoarnă toate predicțiile din karting-ul mondial". eurosport.ro (in Romanian). 17 October 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ Sources:
- @zoe_florescu_potolea; (10 October 2023). "Amazing how 7 years ago I started karting with @realracing_ro on @laconca_official 😉 and today I had a memorable F4 test with this special team ❤️". Retrieved 10 July 2026 – via Instagram.
- @zoe_florescu_potolea; (9 November 2023). "The first time I went to @circuitpaulricard and came in contact with Winfield Racing School was in August 2022". Retrieved 10 July 2026 – via Instagram.
- @zoe_florescu_potolea; (28 November 2023). "Achieving one of my goals at 14yo: hitting a F1 track!". Retrieved 10 July 2026 – via Instagram.
- ↑ Wood, Ida (3 April 2025). "Sebastian Wheldon tops huge pre-season Italian F4 test at Imola". formulascout.com. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ Wood, Ida (27 August 2025). "Nakamura tops F4 test while Olivieri logs FRegional laps at Mugello". formulascout.com. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ Lau, Kaylene (17 September 2025). "F1 Academy rookie test: The latest step in shaping female racing talent". feederseries.net. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ Chambenoit, Mathieu (12 September 2025). "La F1 Academy organise un rookie test, trois pilotes de F4 France au rendez-vous". autohebdo.fr (in French). Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ "Stevens fastest in landmark F1 ACADEMY Rookie Test". f1academy.com. 18 September 2025. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ Paraschiv, Andrei (14 January 2026). "România, în drum spre F1: Zoe Florescu Potolea, inclusă în programul "More Than Equal". David Cosma Cristofor a semnat cu Prema Racing". antena3.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ "'Proving the boys wrong': Teenage racers picked for elite driver programme". france24.com. 13 January 2026. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ Bacu, Andrei Vlad (27 February 2026). "Parcursul lui Zoe Florescu Potolea, în Formula Winter Series 2026". apexmotorsportnews.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ Tirado, Seb (19 February 2026). "Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship: 2026 season guide". feederseries.net. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ "Zoe Florescu signs with Tecnicar by AMTOG for 2026 F4 Spanish Championship". racers-behindthehelmet.com. 28 March 2026. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ "Luna Fluxá scores first Spanish F4 points at Aragón, as Zoe Florescu and Maria Germano Neto secure personal best finishes". racers-behindthehelmet.com. 22 June 2026. Retrieved 10 November 2026.
- ↑ "Usain Bolt a venit la București să filmeze alături de o tânără româncă, pilot internațional de karting și Formula 4". g4media.ro (in Romanian). 18 May 2026. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ "Cine e Zoe Florescu Potolea, românca de 17 ani care a apărut alături de Usain Bolt într-un spot publicitar". sport.ro (in Romanian). 18 May 2026. Retrieved 9 July 2026.
- ↑ "Zoe Florescu Potolea a încheiat debutul în Campionatul Italian de Formula 4 la Mugello cu două podiumuri în clasamentul feminin". eurosport.ro (in Romanian). 28 July 2026. Retrieved 2 November 2026.
- 1 2 "Zoe Florescu-Potolea | Racing career profile | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
- ↑ "Florescu Potolea Zoe". kartcom.com. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
External links
- Zoe Florescu Potolea career summary at DriverDB.com
- Official website